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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The Worldwide Short Film Festival normally takes place in Toronto in early June. It is run by the Canadian Film Centre and is the largest short film festival in North America. Now they are taking the show on the road and offering a free screening of sample films from the recent festival in three Canadian cities -- Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver -- in their Best of the Fest National Tour.

Films include a number of prize-winners such as I.D. by Sam Firth, which won numerous awards such as the “Human Condition 60 Second Film Competition” at the Chicago International Film Festival. The Poodle Trainer won Best Documentary Short at this year's WSFF, which Slip won Best Experimental Short. There is a good mix of fiction and documentary, live-action and animation, and Canadian and international films.

Screenings take place in mid- to late-November. To RSVP, click on the link provided.---

*You
may RSVP for yourself and one guest. Seating provided on a first come,
first served basis.**All
guests must be 18+ years of age.

'BEST OF THE FEST' 2010 – PROGRAM INFORMATION

I.D.Sam Firth | UK | 2009 | 1:00 | Documentary

Saved by the filmmaker
over the years, a series of photo booth self-portraits shows us that
although fashions and hairstyles come and go, the person stays the same.

THE POODLE TRAINERVance Malone | USA | 2009 | 8:00 | Documentary

Irina Markova’s entire life is dedicated to her
one true passion: training poodles for her circus act. This eye-popping
documentary reveals not only her unwavering dedication to her dogs, but
the childhood trauma that inspires her remarkable life.

Best Documentary Short, WSFF 2010

SLIPChelsea McMullan | Canada | 2008 | 6:00 | Experimental

In one perfectly orchestrated tracking shot, the
most private of spaces – a women’s change room – is fluidly explored.
Female bodies of all shapes and sizes dance across the space, creating
an endearing movement piece.

The Kodak Award for Best Cinematography in a Canadian Short, WSFF 2010
Award for Best Experimental Short, WSFF 2010

A deeply moving drama weaves two parallel tales
as a middle-aged couple faces a terminal disease together, and two
cosmonauts prepare to separate as they return to Earth. Sometimes, only
love can cross the space that divides us.

Starring Noni Hazlehurst and Anthony Phelan – Winners of The Deluxe Award for Best Performance in a Live-Action Short, WSFF 2010

BREAK A LEGJesse Shamata| Canada | 2009 | 7:00 | Fiction

A hit-man meets his mark over a breakfast of
eggs, assassination threats, and career advice. A sweet encounter
between a man, his work and a captive audience.

SURFACE FILMVarathit Uthaisri | USA | 2009 | 3:00 | Experimental

See the patterns of how we live from a most unique perspective in this playfully shot observation of our daily routines.

A GENTLE PUSHPhilippe Verkinderen | Belgium | 2009 | 15:00 | Fiction

A calamity of events collide in one afternoon
for little Robbie: the last day of school, Belgium’s World Cup
qualifying match, and a whale beached on the town’s shore. As all three
head towards a climax, an unexpected twist changes his world forever.

Documentary cameras follow the plight of a
young goatherd in northern Uganda who yearns to go to school. But 40
years ago, tribal elders buried a pen, placing a curse on the written
word. The boy’s fate is decided as the real source of the curse is
revealed.

MISSED ACHESJoanna Priestley | USA | 2008 | 4:00 | Animation

Written and narrated by Taylor Mali, four time
winner of the National Poetry Slam championships, this dirty ditty
animates text and plays up phonetics with hilarious results. A witty
commentary on ignorance, idiocy and our overreliance on spell check.

SAVAGELisa Jackson | Canada | 2009 | 6:00 | Fiction

A Cree woman working as a domestic sings a
haunting lullaby for the daughter she lost to the soul-sucking
residential school system of the 1950s. An awesome reinvention of genre
that uses heavy metal, zombies and hip-hop dance moves to communicate
thought control, hunger and abuse.

THE APRIL CHILLTornike Bziava | Georgia | 2010 | 14:00 | Fiction

Following the violent Soviet suppression of a
peaceful demonstration in Tbilsi, Georgia on April 9th, 1989, a military
serviceman makes a surprising human connection.